Well, I've never signed up for a bulletin board before, so this is kind of exciting. My name is Fred, and I'm from New Jersey. I have a lovely wife and a (usually) fun job teaching in Trenton.

The reason I decided to sign up for this thing is because I have a question that I'm having a hard time answering, and there might be someone to help me registered here.

Here we go - Of the few things I'm convinced of in this life, two are the truth of the Bible and the fact that there is something out there that matches what you all call ghosts or spirits. What I'm trying to figure out is what, if anything, the Bible says about these anomalies. If any of you have any incite into this, I am eager to listen.

Thanks for welcoming me. I look forward to osme interesting conversations. Later.

Hi Fred, welcome to SpiritKeep =)

I'm afraid I don't really have an answer for you, but hopefully someone here will be able to help you out.

I do believe most people have experienced some kind of unusual encounters in their lives that simply have no explanation. Makes life quite interesting if you ask me

Hi Fred, and welcome to SpiritKeep. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you either, but I hope you'll learn something new just by reading and interacting. =)

Kell

Hello and welcome, Fred! I'm a former teacher. =)
My husband is much more of a Biblical scholar than I am, and we have discussed this before. Let me check with him and see if we can't locate some references.
I know ghosts are a somewhat controversial topic in some religions. I read one of John Edwards' books in which he describes some of the controversies and some of the acceptance from his own faith (Catholic).
It is an interesting topic!

the father, the son and the "HOLY GHOST" Ghost hmmm funny theres a reference like that...or some religions use Holy Spirit...

I believe that not all "Ghosts or Spirits" are bad..some send us signs like in biblical days...all we have to do is listen...

Fred, the only thing hubby could think of off the top of his head is a story about one of the kings of Israel going to someone to contact the spirit of a King who had passed on. It was essentially a warning not to conjure spirits, but the existance is acknowledged. He couldn't think of what book it was in, but I hope this helps a little!
I agree with 2Feathers -- I know there are some religions that feel that all spirits are demonic. From my observation of personal experience, reading the stories of others, etc... I believe that ghosts are the same as people walking the face of the earth. There are good ones, bad ones, and some who are indifferent and just hanging on for the ride.

Thanks to those who replied. I've already checked out the passage about calling up the dead spirit. It's in ISamuel. Predictably, perhaps, it was Samuel's spirt that was conjured up.

It is certainly true that the Bible has some pretty strong things to say about things like conjuring up spirits. It's flatly forbidden. That doesn't mean they aren't real. As some of you pointed out, there are numerous accounts in the Bible of angels bearing messages to people. There are also plenty of accounts of demonic spirits making people's lives miserable. Jesus cast out plenty such spirits. I've even had some cast out of me personally by the power Jesus has.

It's the concept of neutral spirit I have trouble getting my head around because there doesn't seem to be a precedent for it in scripture. No doubt some of you have stories to tell about some you've dealt with. I suppose I need to find time to peruse past posts thoroughly at some point ot really read up on such encounters.

On a related note (perhaps it should be another topic. Maybe it already is one for all I know), What do you believe to be the source for psychic phenomena - telekinesis, esp, etc? Is it something from within the person or something from without that enables such abilities? Later.

P.S. My icon choice demonstrates how I sometimes feel trying to figure this out.

Fred, you might want to scroll down to the "All Things Psychic" section and post your second question. You might get more opinions there. That would cover subjects like telekenesis, esp, etc...

Thanks for the tip, Carrie. I will do that. Later.

I have gotten most of my abilities from my genes!! Most of my family members have the same abilities. They all very, but I think it's your make-up and your ability to believe in things unheard of or unseen!! I hope this helps, but this is from my own experiences!!
Have A Great Day!!


Just fixing your pic. =)

[ March 28, 2003, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: Renee ]

Hello Fred =)

One of the things that has helped me a lot when searching for answers is to be open-minded. Not everything is set down in black and white. For example, telephones, electricity, cars, medical breakthroughs, etc are not mentioned in the bible, but if it wasn't for those people being open-mined enough and daring enough to search for answers, we'd still be living in the dark ages

My point being, not everything on this earth is mentioned in the bible, but that does not make it wrong or that it doesn't exist.

Many psychics, telekinetics found their powers by accident and/or trial and error.....kind of like many of our inventors. They have dared to go beyond their present mind-set and seek something more. It is also said that we only use about 10% of our brains, so who is to say what powers we could tap into if we broaden our thought process and seek out the unknown.

Most of us here don't have any cut and dried answers, just a willingness to accept that some things will never be explained or understood, they simply exist, just like faith in a higher being!

Yikes, didn't mean to ramble Hope I've helped you some

No need to apologize for rambling, Cindy.

True, there are a lot of real things in this world not discussed in the Bible. Rightly so. It isn't a math textbook or engineering textbook or anything like that. When you begin to talk about spiritual reality, though, I believe the Bible is unrivaled in it's truth. Thus I try to examine what happens in my life and in other's lives through the lens of scripture. Everyone has a lens they look through like that. I realize not everyone sees things from my perspective, and I'm not out to change anyone's mind.

I will comment on the source in psychic abilities under my topic in All Things Psychic. Later.

[ March 31, 2003, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: KellKell ]